


Underwater

by FreyaAtterton



Series: Finally Feels Like Home [8]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, Peter Parker Whump, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29718306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreyaAtterton/pseuds/FreyaAtterton
Summary: Peter said he was fine. Karen and Friday confirmed that he was fine. Pepper said Tony was overreacting. But then why is his kid lying on the floor suffocating?
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Finally Feels Like Home [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945681
Comments: 10
Kudos: 131





	Underwater

**Author's Note:**

> Look guys, a new story for you! It's Peter Parker whump with a good amount of Irondad & Spiderson, just the way we like it. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Spiderman climbs through the open window, making his way into his room. As soon as he's inside, he slides down the wall, too tired to hold himself up anymore. He yanks down his mask, closes his eyes and breathes hard. Damn, it has been a bad night.

When he left to patrol, he expected some muggers and lost tourists like usual and definitely not a dip in a lake. Thank God, it's almost June and it's been a warm day. Saving that drunk man wasn't an easy job, though.

Spiderman was already on his way home when he saw a man walking over a bridge, holding an empty bottle. The man seemed very cheerful, he was singing. Or probably he just drank more than he should have. Much more. When he was at the middle of the bridge, he started to dance, too and that was a big mistake. Because he quickly lost his balance and fell into the water with a big splash. Without hesitation, Spiderman jumped right into action, but the man didn't make the rescue easy. Not realizing that Spiderman wanted to help him, he desperately tried to get away from the hero. Of course, Spiderman was stronger and he managed to save him.

Still, it wasn't easy and no wonder Peter feels so damned tired, sitting on the floor in his room. He would like to crawl into his bed and bury himself under his warm blanket. But there's something else he would like to do even more: to get out of his wet suit. Yes, Mr. Stark put a heater in the suit, so it wasn't that bad to swing home after the unexpected swim, but a hot shower sounds wonderful. So the boy climbs to his feet and walks into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he returns into his room wearing pajamas and eyes his bed longingly. Just a few more seconds and he can finally sleep. At least ten hours, tomorrow is Sunday, so no school. Then he suddenly hears the now familiar sound of repulsors and when he turns to the window, he can see Iron Man out there, his faceplate retracting.

Peter quickly strides to the window and the sudden movement makes his chest protest. He frowns because he doesn't remember hitting it on anything. But then why does it hurt? He decides to ignore the pain and forces himself to smile at his mentor.

But he couldn't be fast enough because Mr. Stark narrows his eyes at him. "Kid, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing," he stutters as an unexpected cough escapes him, which also irritates his chest even more.

"Are you sure?" Mr. Stark asks, looking unconvinced. "I heard about your dip earlier tonight, so I decided to check up on you."

Peter smiles. It's really nice of Mr. Stark to come here just to see if he's alright. It's so good to know that the man really cares about him. Mr. Stark could have called or texted or sent a suit, but no, he's really here. The boy feels so happy that he forgets about the pain in his chest. It's not that bad, really.

"I'm fine. You can ask Karen," he says confidently because he knows his AI would back him up. Right after the rescue, Karen informed him that he was good.

"Friday already asked her," the man says, still watching Peter worriedly. As if he couldn't believe the two AIs. "Anyway," he continues, obviously deciding to change the subject. "As I had to cancel our lab sesh on Wednesday because of that stupid board meeting, I thought you could come over tomorrow. If you have time that is. What about 11? I guess you want to sleep in on Sunday."

"That would be awesome, Mr. Stark," Peter agrees smiling. He was so disappointed when his mentor cancelled their lab time on Wednesday.

"And your lovely aunt wouldn't mind?"

"No, May has a night shift, so she will sleep almost all day," the boy explains.

"Excellent," Mr. Stark nods. "Now go to bed, kid and see you tomorrow," he says and turns to fly back to the Tower.

* * *

Back at the Tower, Tony strides into the kitchen to refill his coffee mug. Now that he's home, he might as well work in the lab for a few hours. Suddenly, Pepper walks in, wearing an elegant, dark green dress.

"So how's Peter?" she asks and opens the refrigerator to grab a water bottle.

"He's fine. I mean he says he's fine and Friday also says he's fine," Tony answers.

"But you think he's _not_ fine?" Pepper asks, looking amused.

"He looked tired and in pain, plus, he coughed a lot."

"You mean he looked tired this late at night after patrol and coughed after that swim?" Pepper raises an eyebrow.

The man frowns. "You think I'm overreacting?"

"I think you're always overreacting when it comes to Peter," his fiancé smiles. "But it's really cute."

Tony snorts. "Thanks, I guess? So you're not mad that I left you alone at that super boring party to check up on the kid?"

"At least you had an excuse to leave early," the woman grimaces. "You're right, it was really boring. And I won't be mad if you don't go down to the lab but stay right here with me," she smiles, walking up to Tony.

"Yes, ma'am," he grins, pulling her into a kiss.

* * *

The night is anything but restful for Peter. His mind recreates the dip in the lake, he can see water all around him and it brings back other bad memories, too. He remembers being dropped into cold water and nearly drowning after becoming tangled in his parachute. He wakes up numerous times throughout the night, sweating and coughing every time. By the time morning finally comes, he feels more exhausted than before and the pain in his chest feels worse. He feels like he can't get enough air. He considers calling Mr. Stark to cancel his visit to the Tower. But who is he kidding? He would never do that. He would never miss lab time with his mentor.

"Come on, Spiderman," he encourages himself and climbs out of the bed.

Getting ready takes more time than usual, but he's in no rush, he has plenty of time to get to the Tower. He leaves a note to May and swings over to Manhattan. Once again, his chest objects vehemently, but he ignores it. He so doesn't have time for this, Mr. Stark is waiting for him!

When he lands on the top of the Tower, Friday lets him in and he makes his way to the lab. He absentmindedly rubs his chest as he enters.

"Mr. Stark?" he queries.

His idol sits at a desk, with a screwdriver in his hand and a circuit board in front of him.

"Good morning, kid," the man greets, looking up and smiling at him.

Peter puts his backpack on a stool and grunts as he walks closer to his mentor. The pain seems to get worse with every breath now. He hopes Mr. Stark won't notice anything. Of course, he has no such luck.

"Are you okay, bud?" the man frowns at him.

The boy nods. "Sure. Just-" He can't finish, a coughing fit interrupts him. He bends over, resting his hands on his knees.

Mr. Stark winces and walks over to him, placing a hand on his back. "Kid?"

Peter knows if he said he was fine, Mr. Stark wouldn't believe him. But he doesn't even want to pretend that he's okay because he's so obviously not. His lungs refuse to work and he feels like suffocating. He's panicking now and he doesn't care what Mr. Stark thinks. He needs help. He needs air.

"Can't… breathe," he manages.

Suddenly, his knees buckle, but before he could fall, strong hands catch him and lower him so that he sits on the floor, back against the wall.

"Friday, call Helen. Right now!" Mr. Stark orders and then gives his full attention to the boy. "Relax, bud, help's on the way."

Peter nods but he thinks it's practically impossible not to panic when he simply doesn't have enough air in his lungs. He feels like he's underwater again and he's about to drown.

Mr. Stark keeps a hand on Peter's chest and the kid is really grateful because that hand keeps him grounded and convinces him that he's not underwater and he's not alone.

"Just keep breathing, buddy," the man tells him.

Peter nods again and grips the man's arm because he needs as much reassurance as possible to believe that he's not back there and he won't die.

"You're okay, Pete, everything's gonna be fine," Mr. Stark says, apparently sensing the kid's rising panic. He grips the back of his neck with his other hand. "I should have trusted my gut. I knew something was wrong," the man mutters to himself. "When I ask you, kid, if you're okay, you have to be honest, alright?"

The boy tries to answer, but when breathing is so hard, speaking is basically impossible. He opens his mouth but not a word comes out.

"Don't talk, kid," Mr. Stark tells him.

Peter feels relieved that the man has given him permission to remain quiet and he doesn't have to defend himself, he doesn't have to convince Mr. Stark that he didn't lie when he said he was fine. Sure, he was feeling tired, but that was normal after patrolling and rescuing that drunk man, right? And yes, his chest hurt, but he thought his healing factor would take care of it.

The lack of oxygen makes him drowsy and his eyes start to close. He can feel a slap on his cheek.

"Hey, stay with me kid," Mr. Stark orders.

And Peter wants to obey, he really does because the man sounds so desperate. He wants to open his eyes, he wants to answer him, but his body doesn't seem to respond.

Then he can feel someone shaking him and he forces himself to open his eyes. He's not sure if it's been a good idea though, everything seems so blurry and he's not sure where he is exactly.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, kid!" Mr. Stark says, giving him a small smile but he looks concerned. "Stay with me, Pete. Helen's nearly here, I promise."

The boy takes short breaths but he doesn't know how long he can go on like this. There's obviously not enough air in his lungs, but there's nothing he can do about it and he starts to panic again.

Fortunately, Mr. Stark notices how scared he is and squeezes his shoulder reassuringly. "You're doing great, Pete. Just hold on a little longer, okay? Help's coming."

Turns out Mr. Stark is right. Just a few seconds later, Peter can hear new voices, one of them is Doctor Cho. Suddenly, there's an oxygen mask over his face and he is loaded onto a stretcher. Finally. He can rest now. He allows his eyes to close and hopes when he opens them again, everything will be alright and he can breathe normally. And all of this will be just a distant memory.

Sleeping sounds like an awesome idea. No one has breathing difficulties while sleeping, right? But before he could let go, he can hear a machine beeping annoyingly beside him and the voices all over become stressed. Mr. Stark doesn't sound so calm anymore, no, he sounds terrified.

Peter decides he just needs to sleep a little and he will comfort his mentor later. Yes, just a little sleep and he will be as good as new and Mr. Stark won't be so scared. Satisfied with his decision, Peter finally drifts off.

* * *

Tony doesn't think he will ever forget this. Seeing Peter lying on the floor and Helen intubating him. Why did he believe Peter when he said he was fine? Why did he let Pepper and the two AIs convince him that he was overreacting? Clearly, he wasn't because here is his kid dying in front of him. Dying? Shit, could Peter really-

"He's stabilizing," Helen interrupts his train of thoughts and Tony lets out a breath he doesn't remember holding. "Let's go," the doctor instructs her team.

"Is he going to be alright?" Tony asks, hurrying with them towards the elevator. He glances down at the boy on the stretcher. He still looks so pale.

"I can't say as I don't know what's causing the breathing difficulties," Helen answers almost apologetically.

"He took a swim in a lake yesterday. He jumped in to save a man," Tony explains.

"Probably that has something to do with this," the doctor nods as they enter the elevator. "It must be secondary drowning. It's rare but it happens. When someone inhales even a small gush of water, it can irritate the lungs and cause swelling. Even a small amount of water is enough to hinder the lungs' ability to provide oxygen to the bloodstream."

"But will he be okay?" Tony asks, hoping he doesn't sound too impatient. But who is he kidding? He doesn't care how he sounds, this is the most important question right now.

"He'll recover nicely, especially with his incredible healing factor," Doctor Cho smiles.

"Thank you, Helen," the man sighs relieved. Then he looks down at Peter again and frowns. "I shouldn't have believed him when he said he was good."

"Actually, secondary drowning is very hard to detect and symptoms can take a long time to appear, so if he felt fine, you had no reason not to believe him," the doctor smiles again. "Look, he's already waking up."

Helen is right, the boy's eyes slowly flutter open.

"Peter, can you hear me?" Doctor Cho asks gently.

The kid tries to reply but when he realizes he can't, his eyes go wide in fear.

Tony quickly moves into his line of sight and grabs his hand. "It's okay, bud, calm down. Not gonna lie, you gave me quite a scare, kid. You stopped breathing for a minute but you're fine now. Everything's gonna be alright," he promises and smiles when Peter squeezes his hand.

* * *

When Tony enters Peter's room in the medbay, he finds a pouting boy sitting on the bed.

"What's the matter, kid? Did they run out of red jello?" the man grins and takes a seat beside him.

"You're late, Mr. Stark," Peter glares. "Doctor Cho said I could leave at 7pm and it's already 7.20. What took you so long? Did you forget about me?"

"Sorry, Pepper and I were setting up the guest room for you."

"Oh," the boy stuns. "You know it's really not necessary. I could go home."

"Not an option, Pete. Helen says she wants you monitored. And May has a night shift again, so it's easier if you stay with us tonight. Plus, Helen's close if anything happens."

"But I'm fine now, Mr. Stark!" Peter protests.

Tony rolls his eyes. "Listen, kid, you have two choices. You either come home with me or stay here. Come on, is it really so bad to stay with me?"

Peter shakes his head and a smile spreads across his face. "Pizza and Star Wars."

Tony chuckles and pats the kid on the shoulder. "Alright. Pizza and Star Wars," he agrees.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and let me know if you liked it, please.


End file.
